Frequent Flyer Alert: AmEx Points Bonus for British Airways Transfer

It's not as generous as the February/March 40 percent bonus or the June/July 50 percent bonus that American Express offered, but this current deal is especially useful for booking non-stop transatlantic awards.

It's not as generous as the February/March 40 percent bonus or the June/July 50 percent bonus that American Express offered, but this current deal is especially useful for booking non-stop transatlantic awards. New York to London costs 80,000 points roundtrip in business class under the British Airways program. This offer means just 62,000 American Express points are enough for that reward.

You'll pay fuel surcharges on British Airways awards of course, just as you will with most non-U.S. frequent flyer programs. So expect that total taxes and fees (including also the U.K.'s premium cabin departure tax or 'luxury tax') to be around $700 on a roundtrip ticket. But at only 62,000 points roundtrip that's still a good deal for a business class award, especially if you're trying to stretch the value of those points.

I wouldn't make any speculative transfers under this bonus. First, the usefulness of the British Airways program is pretty limited except for non-stop flights (since they charge you for each flight segment separately under their award chart). Second, because American Express will have run transfer bonuses for 6 out of 12 months, bonuses are likely to come back around in the future, and past bonuses have been even bigger.

But if you have a need to book a transatlantic premium cabin award, this could be a useful opportunity.

Note though that transatlantic coach awards aren't really worthwhile with the British Airways program, because fuel surcharges are often such a large portion of a cost of a paid ticket that you don't wind up saving very much money when you redeem your miles for the economy cabin.